Algal cells are a promising source of biofuels (Wijffels & Barbosa (2010) Science 329:796-799). Their ability to harness solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into carbon-rich lipids already exceeds the abilities of oil-producing agricultural crops, with the added advantage that algae grown for biofuel do not compete with oil-producing crops for agricultural land (Wijffels & Barbosa, 2010). In order to maximize algal fuel production, new algal strains will need to be engineered for growth and carbon fixation at an industrial scale (Wijffels & Barbosa, 2010). One engineering method is to create stable expression of heterologous genes which requires the use of gene regulatory elements such as promoters and terminators. The identification of feasible regulatory elements is important to drive optimal expression of genes relating to biofuel production in recombinant algae.
Investigators have begun to identify regulatory sequences for biofuel production. To date, much of this work has focused on inducible promoters that can be activated and deactivated by the application of environmental stimuli Vick & Killian, for instance, report a Nannochloropsis oceanica vcp promoter sequence, which is regulated by light-exposure, to drive ectopic gene expression in N. oceanica (U.S. 2009/317,904).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,900 to Allnut et al. reports a light-responsive fcpA promoter from Phæodactylum tricornutum to drive ectopic gene expression in P. tricornutum. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,017 to Dunahay et al. reports a sterol-responsive acc promoter from Cyclotella cryptica to drive ectopic gene expression in Cyclotella and Navicula species.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,405 to Lee reports anaerobically inducible promoters like the hyd1 promoter from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and nitrate-regulated promoters like niaI from C. reinhardtii to drive ectopic gene expression in C. reinhardtii. 
U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,140 to Mitra et al. reports inducible Chlorella virus promoters to drive ectopic gene expression in Escherichia coli, wheat, rice, tobacco, and Arabidopsis thaliana. 
U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,224 to Xia reports inducible Chlorella virus promoters to drive ectopic gene expression in E. coli, tobacco, and wheat.
By contrast, fewer investigators have reported the discovery of constitutively active promoters to drive ectopic gene expression in algae. U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,175 to Moll reports the use of RuBisCo small subunit (ssu) promoters to drive ectopic gene expression of yeast fermentation enzymes in Ulva species.
Walker et al. (2004) Plant Cell Reports 23:727-735 report RuBisCo promoters and terminators from Dunaliella tertiolecta to drive gene expression in C. reinhardtii. 
Chen et al. (2008) J. Phycol. 44:768-776 report RuBisCo promoters from C. reinhardtii to drive ectopic gene expression in Nannochloropsis oculata. There is, therefore, a comparative lack of knowledge relating to promoters and terminators suitable for driving constitutive gene expression in Nannochloropsis species, particularly of constitutive promoters and terminators derived from Nannochloropsis species.